Scars Mean You Survived!

Do you have scars? Are you feeling self-conscious of them? I understand where you’re coming from. A while ago I was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. Of course the thyroid needed to come out, but I knew it would leave a scar right on my neck. At the time, I was so worried about what other people would think. Would they stare at it? Would they ask me lots of questions? I had so many questions!

The day of surgery came and went. I took care of my scar as my doctor instructed me to do. I saw it every day, wondering if it would get any better. I was always hiding the scar under a scarf of some sort. I like scarves, but when it is 90 degrees outside in the Texas heat, it was so difficult to wear one. I was VERY aware of my scar, all of the time!

One day I woke up, saw my scar and felt awful! I wanted to cry. I started looking up quotes. I came across a quote that said, “Scars mean you survived!” It threw me back! How could I be so petty about my looks, I thought! I SURVIVED CANCER! To this day, I look at my scar differently. I am proud of my scar! I know that may sound odd, but I am! I survived something that not everyone is able to. I feel so blessed.

I now wear my scar as a testament and badge of my courage that I went through a very difficult situation. A potentially life threatening situation! I survived it! I SURVIVED IT!

If you are having a hard time coming to grips with your scar, remember it only makes you more beautiful because you have gotten through something that was very difficult. Wear your scar as your badge of courage….be proud of it! You are so amazing to have WON your battle!

“Something’s Just Not Right.”

The Story of My Autistic Son

I gave birth to a beautiful, healthy baby boy back in 1994. He smiled, crawled and progressed like most children do. So when he turned three years old, it was time for him to go to pre-school. I was surprised when the teacher came up to me and said, “There’s something not quite right with Jacob. I can’t put my finger on it.” What in the world was she talking about? He was healthy, learning some new words, and played nicely with others. He was a calm child and never showed aggression. I thought because the teacher was so young, maybe she was just inexperienced. So time went on for a little while. I took him to his doctor time and time again and was always told and he was fine and healthy.

The next year he was with the same pre-school teacher and again, she told me she thought Jacob needed tested. Okay, let’s put this to rest and test him, I thought. Again, there were some things we needed to help him with, but he’s only four years old! So this is how our life went for some time. Some “experts” said he was fine, some said there is something but didn’t feel comfortable making a diagnosis until he was older.

We pressed forward. Each year a new teacher would comment, each year we would evaluate him. When he turned seven, the professionals were finally ready to start taking a more serious approach. Even then, he was diagnosed with Pervasive Developmental Disorder, Asperger’s Syndrome, Attention Deficit Disorder and even food allergies. We were trying everything to figure out what was going on. It was frustrating and exhausting. We felt like there was little we could do for him.

Finally, by the time he was in high school I found a professional who specialized in Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). He said my son had a high functioning form of Autism. He then looked at me and apologized for all the previous experts, but explained that Autism is very difficult to diagnose and that is why Jacob had a variety of diagnoses. I felt relieved to know what was going on with my son, yet unsure about what I could do for him. This was new territory for us and I didn’t know how to proceed. Of course, the story of my son is much longer, but if you feel frustrated about similar circumstances I wanted to share some resources with you.